Monday, December 13, 2010

Be Skeptical

The medical industry has a mysterious strangle hold on the unsuspecting public. I see it come up a lot in the clients I see coming in for Body Tuning at Tatz Studio.

Over and over again, I see people who have options for healing and care but think that they have a hopeless situation or that they are doomed to be operated on if they want any results. They have stopped searching for help because “their doctor told them...” People don’t seem to hold their doctors up to the same scrutiny that they’d hold up any other professional.

If you were going to buy a car, for example, you’d probably do a lot of research. You’d ask your friends for their input, you might read some reviews online or look up statistics on gas mileage, safety ratings, repair costs and insurance costs. You’d be armed with all the knowledge you could find. And when you finally went into the dealer, you’d view him with a healthy skepticism because you’d know that his main focus is to sell you the car that he’s selling. In fact, in his mind, the less educated you are, the easier it would be to sell you his car, so he’s hoping that you haven’t done your homework.

The same scenario would be true if you were going to buy an air conditioner or a set of knives. If you were going to try a new restaurant, you might go through a similar process before deciding on which one to go to. And even if you asked the waiter for his recommendation, you would typically consider his recommendation, but also weigh it against your own needs and finally make an informed decision.

However, when it comes to the medical community, we tend to give up all our power. If the doctor says it, it must be true, we think. They give fancy names to everything and intimidate us into following their prescriptions. Which we blindly do.

But why? Why don’t we doubt them? Aren’t they selling a product? Isn’t in their best interest for us to buy the surgery or the medicine? As an intelligent person, you probably know that there are other options besides medicine and surgery in many cases, but the medical industry doesn’t want you to know or to believe that.

But I want people to wake up. Take a stand. Ask questions of your professionals. Place value in your own input and your own experience. Even your intuitions are valuable.

And most importantly, I think we need to shift our perception of doctors from benevolent, all-knowing, altruistic healers to what they really are; business professionals who have studied the effects of medication and surgeries on the body.

The old adage is, “if you visit a chiropractor, you’ll need an adjustment. if you visit a massage therapist, you’ll need a massage. if you visit a doctor, you’ll need medicine or surgery. If you visit a lawyer, you’ll need to sue someone.” There’s a lot of truth in it.

So take your life back.

Another factor at play here, and one that I’ll save for another day, is that the doctors are answering, in a large part, to the insurance companies. The insurance companies, being entirely concerned with bottom-line profit, will only approve certain things for coverage. The things that are covered are the things that make the most money. Those things that aren’t covered by insurance, even though they may be (and often are) the best option, won’t be offered by the doctor because he wants to get paid.

Please remember my analogy. And the next time you’re in the doctors office, think like a car-buying consumer. Be skeptical and always ask for clarification and ask for other options. Also, don’t be afraid to shop around for doctors like you would shop around for a piano teacher. If the one you’ve been using doesn’t seem to be listening to you, then fire him.